...Class Project #1 - Climate Profiles of Cities Around The World Luis Gonzalez GEOG 1301 - Physical Geography Bryant Evans This essay will discuss three cities, Houston, Texas, Alice Springs, Australia and Bridgetown, Barbados. It will emphasize the similarities and differences between them. There will be five factors that will be discussed which are average monthly high and annual temperatures, average monthly low and annual temperatures, average monthly and annual precipitation, average monthly and annual wind speeds, and average monthly and annual evening relative humidity readings. Houston Texas is my birth place. In Houston we have nearly four hundred events throughout the year. There’s fun for all the family from and is a diverse city which contains many cultures. Here are some of the interesting places that this wonderful city has to offer; there is NASA which is 25 miles southeast of downtown. It is like a museum for me but of things from present times, communications and space artifacts. Also, we have Discovery Green which is in downtown Houston. This park is in down town which attract all ages to gather and enjoy the outdoors. Facts: * Houston was founded on August 30, 1836 by brothers Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen * Population-2,099,451 * Houston's latitude is 29 degrees 45 minutes north and its longitude is 95 degrees 22 minutes west * Houston is 43 feet above sea level. Sites- http://www.houstontx.gov/abouthouston/houstonfacts...
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...Climate change becomes a universal issue in recent years, with the negative influence occurring in the third world. There are lots of negative effects on most urban areas city on coast and riverbanks are vulnerable to climate change effects such as a increase in sea level (Nichcolls, cited in Hunt and Watkiss 2004, p.17). Climate change refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity (Parry M.L et al. 2007, p.13). The world’s urban population will rapid increase in the next few year, so the negative effects caused by climate change in cities should be solved necessarily. This essay outlines the major negative impacts by climate change, and evaluates three possible solving measures in many developing countries. The essay argues that three effective solutions are able to solve the problems of climate change in developing countries. Climate change negatively affects the urban in developing countries. The first environmental effect of climate change is a rising sea level. Rosenzweig et al. (2010, p.910) survey that city should obviously contributed to 71% of global energy-related greenhouse-gas. Most chief cities in developing country are located in low altitudes or near the seaside, which are brought calamities by the climate change. As the world warming, the threat from the ocean level increase poses alarming for cities. A rising in sea level has the direct influences on urban areas such as beach erosion and soil...
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...effects of climate change which is important in dealing with the impacts of climate change that are already happening as well as preparing for future impacts (UNFCCC, 2008). Adaptation planning enables countries to generate and implement national adaptation plans so as to identify medium and long term adaptation needs. Adaptation planning is a continuous process; that is guided by the country. This process is participatory, transparent and gender sensitive in planning for current and future climate change impacts (UNFCCC, 2008; Preston et al, 2011). When generating developing adaptation plans governments, regional authorities and local communities must, together plan and decide on...
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...Vulnerable Climate Variable climate and general climate change continues to impact all sectors of the economy, including human health and ecosystems. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jakarta, Indonesia are two very different megacities but they also share some commonalties in their evolution and current issues with regard to vulnerability of their climates. Flooding, tropical cyclones, and low adaptive capacity threaten their existence. Dhaka is the most vulnerable city in Asia to climate change impacts due to the fact they are poorer and less developed. Jakarta is the second most vulnerable city to climate change impacts, even though it is a more developed country it faces some of the same issues as Dhaka. Changes in climate will have a huge impact on the economy of both countries, Jakarta would be effected more since Jakarta makes up a large part of Indonesia’s GDP. Dhaka and Jakarta are the capital and center of political, cultural and economic life of their countries. They are both the largest cities in their countries. The British East India Company ruled Dhaka, made infrastructure improvements such as housing, roads, and water supply to serve the city. Jakarta’s infrastructure improvements were a combination of efforts by both the Dutch and British. The infrastructure was to support a small population, and both cities have grown rapidly and infrastructure is severely lagging. Indonesia and Bangladesh are both democratic republics gaining their independence in 1945 and 1950...
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...This semester I had the opportunity to attend my first Environmental Justice event which was held at the City Hall in Downtown. I decided to attend the event not only because extra credit was offered but because as a citizen of this beautiful and prosperous city, I am also concerned of the environmental damage caused by capital such as local businesses and transportation state agency (i.e the MBTA and the use of pesticides at their construction sites according to reports I’ve read online, “Inner-city Pesticide use as an Environmental Injustice” by Dr. Daniel Faber). I live in Jamaica Plain which is a low-income neighborhood, considering the fact that most of the population is composed Latinos and African Americans. Thus, it was of my greatest interest to attend this event and learn more about environmental justice in my community....
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...implies that the economy is maturing, moving towards the secondary and tertiary sectors. However, farming remains vitally important to the economy with 638 000 people formally employed (Statistics SA, 2012 Q2) – although it’s estimated that around 8,5-million people are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their employment and income. However, global climate change will affect the government’s efforts to alleviate poverty and fast-track development in rural areas. Definition of terms Global warming: refers to the increased temperature of Earth's surface, including land, water and near-surface air. Climate change: means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods (UNFCCC). 2. Causes of Climate Change Any factor that causes a sustained change to the amount of incoming energy or the amount of outgoing energy can lead to climate change. They are factors that operate in favour of climate change; these factors that cause climate change can be divided into two categories. Those related to natural processes and those related to human activity. 1|Page...
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...Institution Adaptation Global warming and climate change exist, and the two have called for a world attention to reducing their impacts. The Great Eight nations, including U.S., have convened various global summits where heads of states come to debate how to counter the increased climate change. Various recommendations have been proposed to counter the effects of climate change and devise ways in which the change are accommodated. This paper will discuss the rhetorical questions asked by the author of the journal article. ‘Adaptation’ is authored by Eric Klinenberg and is published in a journal called The New Yorker. The targeted audience is the people of New York, who have suffered the effects of climate change in the city. The article is written by the department of urban planning. This gives the author authority to address his audience since the department is concerned with enlightening the urban population about things that affect their everyday life. The date of publication is January 2013 making it relevant even to date. The city of New York is still subject to heat waves, hurricanes, and floods. The journal article is titled Adaptation: How can cities be “climate proofed”. The title articulates the content since it is taking about adapting to climate change in New York and other cities. This is after Hurricane Sandy that occurred in New York. The author focuses on how cities can take measures to adapt to weather changes. By climate proofing, the author means taking measures...
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...Resilient Cities What makes a city resilient? When the word resilience comes to mind I think of ones ability to bounce back. In the case of matching resilient up with a city I wasn’t quite sure what exactly goes into a city being qualified to earn that adjective. After navigating around the Building Resilient Regions Website and viewing what they do and how they do it, I found myself looking at their resilience capacity index. This index ranks over 300 U.S. cities on how it recovers from stress. Ultimately a cities stress is a mixture of how well it can handle natural disasters, economic decline, and rapid growth. It can be summarized as a cities ability to adapt and transform. When looking at the index the top ranked cities was not what I expected. I decided to see just how resilient one of my favorite cities to go to is; Seattle, Washington. I picked Seattle because I love to visit there. Being from Arizona I love the change of scenery. Cool, rainy, and gray is a nice getaway from scorching and dry. I also have family there so it’s a city close to my heart. I have never thought about its resiliency so after I learn more the next time I go there I can see first hand what needs to be done or what it already doing. Seattle is the largest city in Washington and located between Lake Washington and an inlet of the Pacific Ocean called the Puget Sound. Seattle’s population is over 600,000 people. Seattle is hilly and has wet winters and dry summers. In regards to climate change...
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...To what extent do urban areas modify their climates? (40 marks) Urban areas climate is often significantly different to the surrounding rural areas, this is why urban areas are often described as having their own “micro climate” the differences in urban climates are due to number of different factors. Urban areas often experience a phenomenon known as a heat island, this is a zone of hot air around and above an urban area which has higher temperatures than the surrounding rural areas consequently cities tend to be warmer than rural areas and the temperature becomes lower progressively as you move towards the rural area with the highest temperatures being in the city centre. Heat islands form due to a variety of factors which are present within cities and not commonly found in rural areas, firstly building material such as concrete and tarmac absorb large quantities of heat during the day, due to their dark colours, and when temperatures are cooler, at night, the heat is released gradually warming up the surrounding area, this is why the effects of the heat island are more visible at night time because the city remains warm whilst the rural areas are much cooler. There are a large amount of buildings with glass windows within the urban areas, these have a high reflective capacity and reflect heat towards the streets were it is absorbed. Another factor influencing towards to the heat island formation is the heat energy being emitted from industry due to the combustion of fossil...
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...Cities without Slums Slum Formation Introduction When we talk about slums the focus is often how to bring people living in them into better living conditions. UN-Habitat claims that the number of slum dwellers worldwide is nearing a billion people but this number could triple by 2050 if not addressed. It is important to consider how we can prevent the creation of new slum populations as well as addressing the conditions that already exist. This report aims to investigate the push and pull factors that facilitate slum formation as well as worsen the problem where there are existing slum populations. The driving factors will be examined in relation to case studies relating to urbanization as well as conflicts and climate events that force displacement. By looking at these examples it will be assessed the manner in which these situations contribute the issue of slums across the world. Furthermore, the observations will be used to suggest what may be done to prevent or minimize the effect that they have in creating and worsening slum conditions. Slums tend to form when there is a demand for housing or infrastructure that is not sufficiently being addressed by whatever authorities or government controls an area. The problem of slum formation is complex; addressing land policies, housing prices, provision of adequate infrastructure and public services. The problem is especially exacerbated by large displacement or migration that can have a number of catalysts. Acioli states that...
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...Five keys to a Livable Future Will the leaders answer the call? Will we act for the children? Are we able to save the universe? Background Climate change is one of the greatest dangers facing the planet. Due to human made green house gas emissions, from a decade to another global average temperature is increasing, sea level is rising, world hunger is increasing and super-storms spawned putting our present and future under a serious threat decreasing the possibility for our children and grandchildren for living in livable cities. At World Economic forum 2014 held in Davos on the 24th & 25th of January 2014, the climate change was at the top of the agenda. “In corporate boardrooms and the offices of CEOs, climate change is a real and present danger. It threatens to disrupt the water supplies and supply chains of companies as diverse as Coca-Cola and ExxonMobil. Rising sea levels and more intense storms put their infrastructure at risk, and the costs will only get worse,” Jim Yong Kim the President of World Bank said. Jim Yong Kim, the 12th President of World Bank called on the government leaders and Institutional investors for a serious act toward the climate change danger and climate mitigation and adaptation projects before it’s too late. “The leaders here in Davos, both from the private sector and from governments, have in their power to act in substantive ways. Now is the time to act for future generations before it is too late.” (Jim Yong Kim, 2014) Kim...
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...Stretching for 294km around the Southern coast of Africa (City of Cape Town), Cape Town is a very special place. The Mother City is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world and is home to the Cape Floristic Region, a protected World Heritage Site (SANParks). Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate. Table Mountain and the cold Benguella Current of the South Atlantic Ocean, among others, have an impact on local climate (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The different ecosystems rely on warm and cold temperatures, winds, rainfall, and even fire to flourish. Due to historical issues such as Apartheid, the almost 4 million residents of Cape Town (City of Cape Town) are often times racially divided in terms of physical housing locations. Some areas are much more impoverished than others, causing the effects of climate change to be felt more intensely and mitigation efforts to be more difficult (Ziervogel, Shale and Du). Climate change is largely attributed to global warming. In a nutshell, this involves greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide to collect and form a layer in the atmosphere. The sun’s heat is then trapped in the atmosphere, causing a rise in the planet’s average temperature (NRDC). This collection of meteorological phenomena poses threats to the planet and the people living in it. Three different effects of climate change in Cape Town will be discussed, explaining the factors leading up to these, how the local people are affected, as well as mitigation efforts...
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...The weather is changing and the scientists discovered that the climate is changing too. The climate is the average weather over a period of time. Climate will not stop changing if the factors that impact on are happening. The climate change is defined as one of the environmental problem. The climate is change in the global level by the number of heat which enter to the system or the number of the heat which comes out of the system. The climate change will happen if the factors that change the amount of the heat or the energy that enter or comes out happened. There are many indicators which prove the climate change and which we know through that the climate change is happening. Noticed increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, snow and ice melt, and the rising of the sea level. Responses to climate change come from planet and animals throughout observing the warmth and the natural and managed environment. Climate change is made by human activities and the nature. The warming that happening know is caused by the human activity like; fossil fuels burning process and the transformation for forestry and agriculture land. The human influence on the climate system have increased significantly and started while the industrial revolution time. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is the command product of fossil fuel calcinations. Since the industrial revolution the overall effect of human activities was a warming effect. This effect was due to the release of carbon dioxide...
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...Term Paper #3: Urban Sustainability GEOG330 Due: December 11, 2015 I am analyzing College Park, Maryland. College Park is a city in Prince George’s County, Maryland that is occupied by more than 31,000 residents. (College Park MD, Welcome To College Park Intro Paragraph) Majority of the economy in College Park is fueled by the jobs offered through the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). This university host over 13,000 employees, making them the biggest employer in the city. University of Maryland, University College is the second biggest employer, providing work for 2,790 employees. The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, College Park has a humid subtropical climate. (Climate, Climate: College Park) I currently live in Lanham, MD, which is about 12 miles away from College Park. As a kid, I always passed by the city and always dreamed about going to the University of Maryland. I attended multiple basketball and football games as a kid, and attended programs that occurred on campus. As a close residing area, College Park is considered home to me. I’ve lived in this area all my life. When my parents moved from Nigeria to the United States, they chose to live in this area because of the lack of extreme weather and excellent higher-level education system provided in the area. I would love to stay here after graduation, but I will go wherever my occupation...
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...once the greenhouse gases retain some amounts of heat rays that bounce from the sun rays that heat the earth’s surface. The levels of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases have increased over the years due to both natural and anthropogenic factors but mostly human induced. Some human activities such as deforestation, industrial activities and combustion of fossil fuels have increased the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to the increase in temperature of the surface of the earth. Scientists and researchers have argued that the increase in the earth’s surface temperature can cause climate change which can lead to catastrophic and disastrous events such as the raise of the ocean water levels due to the melting of the polar ice and flooding the coastal areas. 1.2 INTRODUCTION Climate change is the world phenomenon in which the temperature of the earth’s surface increases to the level in which it threatens the wellbeing and proper operation of the ecosystems thereby affecting the life of humans and other animals due to the unpredictable seasons and effects of droughts, floods and higher temperatures that lead to the great loss of biodiversity( )…………………states that the term ‘gender’ refers to sexually ascribed roles responsibilities and opportunities associated with women and men, as well as...
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